I spent a couple of days working on my tribute post for him but it’s so freakin’ cool that the man himself acknowledged it… it made all that effort so worthwhile, plus it was fun doing all those research on Stanley 😉

Ok so about those links…

Keith posted his thoughts on the Comic-con Batman Vs Superman trailer, I gotta say I agree w/ a lot of his points. The key word here is cautiously-optimistic.

On a related note, Margaret posted the brand spankin’ new trailer of Suicide Squad. Though I like the casting of Viola Davis and Margot Robbie, as of right now I can’t say I’m anticipating this one.

On the TV front, Brittani posted her thoughts of True Detective, Orange is the New Black and more

Abbi reviewed three films for his Film Friday series, one of which is Magic Mike XXL that I have absolutely zero interest on. I’d rather watch fully-clothed Stanley Weber reading a book for two hours than these vapid, gross men gyrating their bodies, blechhh!

The Signal is a sci-fi movie I’ve been curious about. Dell‘s review confirmed that I should give it a shot.

I LOVE when bloggers talk about their favorite composers, and Cindy highlighted the underrated Rachel Portman who made such gorgeous music, including my recent favorite, Belle.

Time for question of the week!

So this week’s question is inspired by the recent news that directing duo Chris Miller and Phil Lord will be helming the Han Solo movie, one of the many Star Wars spin-offs to come. I love The Lego Movie and 22 Jump Street was fun, but it remains to be seen how Miller/Lord would fare directing an action sci-fi genre.

There are quite a few directing duos in Hollywood. Another duo (who happen to be siblings) Anthony & Joe Russo, have been doing well for Marvel/Disney with the success Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Of course, the most famous duo siblings are the Coens. Seems that Joel & Ethan Coen almost always work together, and hey, two brains are always better than one right?

Fans of foreign art house films would likely cite the Dardenne Brothers (Luc & Jean-Pierre) from Belgium as one of their faves. I’ve only seen The Kid With the Bike from the Dardennes, but I REALLY want to see Two Days, One Night with Marion Cotillard. On a different spectrum, we’ve got The Wachowskis (Lana & Andy) and The Farrellys (Bobby & Peter).

So tell me, who are your favorite directing duos… and which of their films do you like best?

You mentioned my favorite duo, the Coen Brothers. They are in a league all of their own. I don’t think I can peg one as a favorite but if pressed, I would have to say The Big Lebowski. I just laugh too much when I watch it. Thanks, Ruth, for the link and sound out! We both love scores, don’t we?

To me The Coen brothers are the cream of the crops when it comes to the best duo working in Hollywood today and of course you know I’m a big fan of their work. They have some misses but many of their films were always well respected and some were box office hits. The other duo I thought would become more prominent in Hollywood were The Hughes brothers but they seem to not have gotten a lot of projects off the ground. I thought their debut film MENACE TO SOCIETY was great and their follow up DEAD PRESIDENTS was quite good too. Somehow though they seem to not get the work big projects that I thought they would after their debut films.

Yeah The Book of Eli was directed by the Hughes brothers but it’s been 5 years now and they have yet to come out with another film. I don’t know if they’re too difficult to work with or they’re just too picky on which project to direct.

That’s easy. The Dardenne Brothers. Basically anything from La Promesse to Two Days, One Night so far is essential. Rosetta is my favorite film of theirs so far. There is just this sense of consistency that they do in their body of work and they keep it fresh every time. I’m in awe of these guys.

Thanks for the recommendation Steven! I just told Tom I can’t wait to see Two Days One Night. I’ll look into the others too, that’s great that they can be consistent as well as bring something new to each film they do.

The Coens remain my favorites but I love the few Dardeene Brothers films I have seen as well. L’enfant is one example, it’s such a simple yet beautiful and effective film from them that I would definitely recommend.

While they only have 2 films under their belt so far, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are two of the most exciting directors working right now. Resolution and Spring are fantastic and I can’t wait to see what else they do in the future.

Margot Robbie as Harley-Quinn is truly exciting. I’m vaguely familiar with her character and I think she is doing wonders; finally giving a performance for that role so many fans have wanted to see for so long. I’m still on the fence about the rest of it but like Superman vs Batman, time will tell if my excitement amps up!
Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon was the first duo of director/actor that popped into my head but I’m sure there are more pairings. 🙂

I’m not familiar w/ any character in Suicide Squad, well apart from The Joker & Batman of course. Margot is lovely but I just don’t care for the movie itself right now. Who knows maybe that’ll change at some point. I was meh on Batman VS Superman initially too, but I’ve always had a particular love for Superman.

Oh I meant director duos, not director/actor but Wilder & Lemmon are certainly a great example of that though 😀

I would say the Coens are the standout directing partnership for me. Consistently good for 30 years or so now, and I look forward to their new releases a lot. I haven’t seen enough of the Dardennes but I do like the films made by Jean Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro before they went their separate ways in the 1990s.

Well there are some sexy scenes w/ Stanley in the movies I mentioned above and he doesn’t have to be full frontal to get me all hot & bothered. For me, there’s nothing sexy at all about male strippers, they actually gross me out.

You’re welcome Margaret! Yeah I was hyperventilating when I saw that in my Twitter feed and I’m still not quite recovered from it. It’s quite a change from when I was crushing on Gregory Peck who’s been dead for years before I was crushing on him. It’s rare that I like someone who’s active in social media.

Wow, you mentioned the two that instantly came to mind. I LOVE the Coen brothers and its hard for them to be anywhere but at the top of my list. But I’m thrilled you mentioned the Dardennes! That are tremendous filmmakers who tell such true human stories. I’m interested any time I see their name attached to a project.

Well the Coens are a no brainer. I still remember seeing Raising Arizona in the theater. So many great lines. I miss Jeunet and Caro but Jeunet has carried on pretty well. The Polish Brothers debut film, Twin Falls Idaho, was pretty special but they’ve fallen off. The Dardennes L’Enfant is my favorite film of theirs. You feel like you’re intruding on this young couples’ lives. So emotionally raw and heartbreaking.

Ever heard of the Brothers Quay? Unique to be sure. Heavily influenced by stop motion, Czech filmmaker Jan Švankmajer. They’ve done everything from music videos to MTV promos.
Street of Crocodiles is one of their best. The stuff of dreams and nightmares.

Hi Fernando! Yes it was very sweet of him, I didn’t notice it until about an hour or so later, I was over the moon!! I still get giddy thinking about it, I hope he read it… I tried not to gush too much and say inappropriate things, that’s what Tumblr is for, ahah.

I’ve come to REALLY like the Russos as I love both Capt America movies & Civil War is the only Marvel movie I’m hugely anticipating.

The Dardenne brothers would easily by my favorite. Like Steven, I think their consistency is remarkable. They don’t make many films, but I love their body of work (except I still can’t track down their first two films). I’d recommend any of their films, though you could start with Rosetta, L’Enfant, and Two Days, One Night. 😉

Hello I’m Ruth!

Film is in my blood. LOVE movies of all genres, from Jane Austen to James Bond. Official blogger for the Twin Cities Film Fest (TCFF). I’ve wrote and produced my first short film » HEARTS WANT in 2017 and currently working on developing the full story as a feature film.